Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Rebuilding and Upgrading the LPNM

I want to remake the Party into an activists' party, with the intent of supporting the central task of taking the libertarian message to the general public. Running partisan candidates are a way to do that, but not the only way. Here's some resources and tips for the membership to help spread the word and develop their rhetorical talents.

I've created a YouTube channel for the LPNM. This will be for posting videos that support the libertarian message. These include, but are not limited to, recordings of speakers at LPNM conventions. If you're good with a camcorder, I hereby solicit your submissions here.

The LPNM blog remains active. Again, I humbly solicit submissions for that blog (and the newsletter!) in the form of original articles, cartoons, etc., that you've done.

I encourage all LPNM members to post notices to their pages on Facebook, Myspace, wherever, of local LP meetings in their area. I've got a few people on my personal pages, but we can reach more people if others follow suit in this. If there aren't any local LP meetings in your area, feel free to start one – it's not that difficult. What do you have to lose by making the effort?

The Facebook group that I set up for the LPNM remains active. The Myspace group is unavailable at the moment, as Myspace is apparently revamping their setup for that particular feature. The [LPNM-discuss] Yahoo! Group also remains active as an open forum.

What can you do and what can you "get away with" on my watch? I think that it's best if we apply libertarian principles to the Party's internal workings as well as to our rhetoric and to the policies we advocate. So you're pretty much good to go if you meet these three conditions:

You're not breaking any public laws – especially the malum in se ones.

You're not violating the Non-Aggression Principle.

You're not advocating violations of the Non-Aggression Principle.

I maintain that that Libertarian candidates, officeholders or appointed spokespersons at all levels of government or the Party should refrain from advocating new or more restrictive laws, new or more expensive spending programs, or new or higher taxes. To paraphrase from the medical profession, "First, do no harm."

Recently (28 April), Ron Bjornstad and I met with staffers from the Bernalillo County Bureau of Elections – part of the County Clerk's Office. Things could be looking up on our dealings with them and the Secretary of State. I'll say more about that in future columns.